Quote:All that we can see is a closeup of some chicks behind some chicken wire on new grass. This does't give the newbees among us any idea how your operation works. Could you post a photo of the entire tractor out in the pasture so we could see the construction, feed setup, watering system, and what shelters are provided for shade and other wheather related elements,how you cope with predators, and how often you move the tractors to new grass. Thanks!

I built a coop and put wheels on it- I wanted to be able to walk inside and visit, clean etc. Here is a pic.

The water and food hand under the hen house, and I put in a special door to make it easier to reach. I move it every other day. It has been four months and my grass is doing very well- growing faster and greener than I have ever seen in the winter.

I'm sorry but I don't have any pictures at the moment of more tractors in the field. This picture was taken about 6 years ago and I had to borrow the digital camera to take these pics. I just got one for christmas so I will take more pics of the operation in a few months. We don't start until March.

But we use 7 gallon waters with two trough feeders and one 25 lb hanging feeder / pen.

The tractors are moved 3-6 times a day depending on moister levels, humidity, temperature, and how many birds are sold for the month. The more birds that are sold, the more we push through the same pasture so we move more frequently, to not burn out the pasture, which is why the grass is always green and is always growing. We water are pastures if the temperature gets too hot.

For the pens they are extremely simple and light. They have a tin top, one side is green, the other is white. Depending on the sun and temperature depends on the side that is used. For instence if it's hot the white side is facing the sun to reflect the heat. In colder months the green side is facing up to absorb the eat. During the colder and windy days we tarp the entire pens leaving just a little section to vent, which keeps the birds dry and warm when they need to be.

Forgot to mention for the predators we have a skirt of wire that goes along each pen to keep animals from digging under the pen. We also have Great Pyrenees dogs that tend to do a great job at living up to their name!

Thanks for the interest and as soon as I get the hang of this new camera, I will get some interesting pics to share!